An Average Team Caught Just Looking

OAKLAND — It wasn’t the 14.0 points, the 9.5 rebounds or 3.7 assists the Lakers missed without Karl (Home) Malone on Tuesday night.

It was something you couldn’t measure with numbers and a decimal point. The Lakers seemed to be devoid of urgency and accountability, lacking a guy who provides both with his effort and attitude.

“They were a very flat team today,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “I don’t know their mood or how it got to that, but that was a flat team out there.”

Jackson also questioned his players’ conditioning, something that’s never in doubt with Malone.

Malone inspires the Lakers by pushing his 40-year-old body down the court like an NFL rookie trying to get his coach’s attention on special teams. And sometimes he deflates opponents simply by using that body to hold his ground, letting everyone know that the path to the ball or the basket goes through him and you’d have an easier time helping Frodo take the ring to Mordor.

The Lakers didn’t outrun the Golden State Warriors, and they didn’t hold their ground when the Warriors saw a chance to take the game and snatched it.

Instead, the Lakers did a lot of looking. They looked for other people to get loose balls, they looked at the officials for calls that weren’t going to be made.

And all of a sudden they’re looking like a very average team. They have lost three of their last five and have not won decisively in their recent victories. Their road record dropped to 6-5, and as Jackson has said before, “That’s not good enough.”

The Lakers had their chances and blew them, such as the five consecutive free throws they missed in the first half when the Warriors left them behind, the back-to-back fast breaks they couldn’t convert in the third quarter, and the open three-pointers Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant missed on one fourth-quarter possession.

It says something that they’re undefeated in three games without either Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal but a .500 squad in two games without Malone, following the Warriors’ 107-98 victory over them Tuesday.

It’s true that teams can be more inspired without their stars, and at this stage, on this team, Malone is closer to a role player than a star.

But his role -- or should that be roles -- are so vital.

Because the Lakers are relying more on sense than the triangle offense, the knowledge Malone accumulated over 18 seasons and his passing ability made up for the lack of structure.

And his mere presence serves as a reminder of the sole purpose of this season and the sacrifices that have been made for it.

Nothing seemed to hold up for them Tuesday.

The Lakers spent a good chunk of their last practice working on defensive rotations against the pick-and-roll, then didn’t apply any of it during the game.

Nick Van Exel kept leaving Gary Payton behind.

Van Exel’s six points through the first 30 minutes didn’t tell the full story of his damage. Because he kept drawing O’Neal’s attention when he drove, it gave a clear path for O’Neal’s man to get offensive rebounds.

That’s one reason the Warriors scored 13 second-chance points.

And the Warriors out-rebounded the Lakers, 23-13, in the first half, 42-37 overall.

Whenever a Laker big man has been hurt or suspended, the media have teased 38-year-old Horace Grant about his ability to play extended minutes. It started again after Malone’s injury Sunday night.

“Bring it on,” Grant said.

Well, he wasn’t quite ready for the 1960s uniforms the Lakers wore Tuesday night. Payton, Bryant and Fisher had blue-and-white shoes to match the colors on the throwback jerseys, but Grant had his usual gold-and-purple model.

“If it was the ‘90s, I’d have ‘em,” Grant said.

A lot has changed since Grant’s heyday, and not just Grant’s ranking on the shoe company priority list.

In his younger days, the Chicago Bulls used him to trap at the top of their full- and half-court presses, in addition to dropping down to seal off the baseline. But Grant can’t give that type of extended effort for extended minutes anymore.

Jackson started Slava Medvedenko in Malone’s place but sent Grant out at the start of the second half because he wasn’t impressed with Medvedenko’s defense.

And Jackson wasn’t about to turn to the rookie, Brian Cook, who was activated from the disabled list Tuesday. When asked about his expectations for Cook, Jackson replied: “Absolutely nothing.”

At least the Lakers aren’t so desperate that they need to turn to Dennis Rodman. Jackson mercifully tripped up that rumor before it could get a running start.

For the first time in years, Rodman made news that wasn’t alcohol- or arrest-related when he signed with the Long Beach Jam of the ABA over the weekend.

And even though Jackson had a telephone conversation with Rodman recently, he didn’t offer him a job.

“I told him that we have a bunch of young kids who are looking for a break,” Jackson said. “We have a full roster. To make room wouldn’t even be a possibility for us. We would have to eliminate somebody from our team. That’s not something we’re planning on doing.”

Whew. Bryant provided enough of a circus act Tuesday, soaring through the air for several dunks and layups.

He scored 23 points, which led the Lakers in scoring.

They didn’t have anyone to lead them in any of the categories that really count, the ones for which there aren’t statistics.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.